Here ’tis! Brand new cover art for Haven’s Fall (Rebel Mage 2). Now with more Matthias and Solomon!

We have a blurb, too:

Haven had been their goal since escaping the destruction of the School. Haven had promised safety, rest, an end to running and death. But things had gone badly wrong in the mountains. Tam and Linnea had to leave Matthias and Solomon behind to face the Elders, hoping to return for them once they’d found Haven. The reality does not live up to the promise. Isolated and dying, Haven fears outsiders almost more than it needs new blood. With only the griffon Dancer and the human healer Ilane for allies, Tam and Linnea fear that Haven’s rulers will prevent them from going back for their friends—then fire rains down from the sky, and things became so much worse for everyone.

Book goes live in ebook and print on December 6th, but you can pre-order it now!

I’ll be one of the writers guests at Chessiecon from November 25th to the 27th (yes, Thanksgiving weekend). In addition to hanging out and seeing people I haven’t seen in FAR too long, I’ll be on these panels:

Friday:

5:30PM — The Other Side of Over the Top: Writing Your Turkey Award EntryPrevious winners and judges give advice on how to make your bad writing the best kind of bad it can be. The deadline for entries is 9pm, so you still have time to write yours after the panel, or you can start planning for next year!

8:00 PM — Writing Outside the LinesWriters live with a cast of thousands inside their heads, all vying to come out and play on the page. The dilemma comes when the writer must write a character outside their experience — be it race, gender identity or sexual orientation. How does a writer accurately portray a character with whom they can’t fully identify? Join us for a discussion of writing outside of your identity — how do you do it? What kind of research is required? Should it even be done?

9:15PM — Slash: The Card GameSlash: Romance Without Boundaries is a game all about matching romantic partners from across the canons of pop culture, literature and history. Our panelists pick their favorite characters and pitch their love stories to a matchmaker in search of the ultimate One True Pairing.

10:30PM — Reading
Elizabeth will be reading “Layover”. Vampires exist, their ritualized society and strict laws allowing them to live peacefully alongside mortal men, feeding on the blood of those who chose to enter vampire service as bond-slaves. The ignorant believed that vampires were savages, that they would half-murder their bond-slaves with their brutality. Daniel, bond-slave to the vampire Itami Hiro, knows better. ADULT CONTENT

Saturday:

1:45PM — Turkey Awards Panel
Writers were asked to send in the best terrible paragraph they could write, as the beginning of the best terrible science fiction novel you (n)ever read. Finalist entries will be presented, and judged with humor and harshness. The panelists will decide who gets this year’s dubious prizes!

4:15PM — It’s Awesome, Well-Written, and Groundbreaking…But Do You Like It?
Sometimes the greatest thing since sliced bread isn’t your cup of tea. How do you handle it when everyone around you is singing the praises of something that just didn’t click for you? Is it OK to dislike something even if it’s changing the world? Can you appreciate it for what it tried to do even if it didn’t do it for you? Are there ways to still usefully participate in the conversation?

6:45PM — Group Book / Art / CD SigningAuthors, artists, and musicians gather in one room for signing/book-selling/chatting with fans.

10:30PM — Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About (Writing) SexWe discuss the how-tos, the pitfalls, the throbbing purple prose to avoid.

Sunday

1:45PM — Stupendous BollocksOur host asks obscure questions which exist not as much to be answered as to encourage panelists to tell us what they know (or what they can make up) about the subject. Points are awarded for interesting answers, regardless of their correctness or relevance to the original topic.

Larry Smith will have some of my books in the dealers room (which ones, I’m not entirely sure — House of Sable Locks and Counsel of the Wicked, definitely. Possibly both Tales from the Arena books, in the soon-to-be-retired self-published versions. Anything else depends on forces outside my control.)